Supervision that Prepares Social Justice Counseling Advocates
April 1, 2022 / 1-2pm EST
1 NBCC Approved Contact Hour
Presented by LaTonya M. Summers, PhD LMHC LCMHC-S and Rachel Heffield, PhD PCCS
For years, social justice and advocacy has been in the fine print of the counseling profession. Influenced by sociopolitical climate, the counselor’s work has expanded from an individual focus to understanding and engaging systemic issues that might affect clients’ welfare. This webinar will highlight the importance of supervision that hinges upon a social justice and advocacy framework and offer strategies for implementation.
Presenter bios:
Dr. LaTonya M. Summers is an award-winning assistant professor of clinical mental health counseling at Jacksonville University. There, she brings over 26 years of addictions and mental health counseling experience to her teaching and research on multicultural issues in counseling and supervision. She is the co-editor of Multicultural Counseling: Responding with Cultural Humility, Empathy, and Advocacy, a Springer Publishing textbook. She founded the Black Mental Health Symposium and publishes the Black Mental Health Today magazine.
From her birthplace in Miami, Florida to the cornfields of Ohio, to the megacities of Beijing and Hong Kong, Dr. Rachel Heffield grew in a love for people and their unique stories. She was inspired to become a professional counselor by a desire for meeting people where they are and helping them navigate the challenges and trauma of life and grow stronger through them . Over the past 15 years, she has provided counseling and training across the world. Sitting with individuals in these diverse settings has highlighted the importance of not only attending to the individual’s symptoms, but also to the nuances of their story, their experience of the world, and the impact of community and systemic factors. As supervisors, it is essential that we both honor those factors at work in the supervisor-supervisee relationship and that we equip developing counselors to understand and address systemic and social justice issues.
Dr. Heffield currently serves as Program Director and Assistant Counselor for the Master of Arts in Counseling program at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon.